Frank Ellis

Who was Frank Ellis?

Frank Ellis was a world leader in the treatment of cancer by radiation therapy. He was born in Sheffield, England and was educated at King Edward VII School and the University of Sheffield. He subsequently worked as a radiation oncologist at Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield. In 1943 he became the first director of the Radiotherapy Department at the Royal London Hospital. In 1950 he established the Radiotherapy Department at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford. After retiring in 1970, he held visiting professorial appointments at the University of Southern California, in Wisconsin and at the Memorial Sloane-Kettering Institute in New York.

He was President of the British Institute of Radiology. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal College of Radiologists. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to cancer services over much of the 20th century. The Frank Ellis Medal of the Royal College of Radiologists is awarded in his honour.

He was active until very close to his death at the age of 100, receiving in person a Sheffield University honorary doctorate at the age of 100, attending the centenary celebrations at the University of Sheffield in 2005 and the Old Edwardians dinner in 2005. There was a memorial service for him at Wolfson College, Oxford, on 17 June 2006.